Expert: Jannie Balliett - 12/2/2009

Question
Hi - Our family recently moved from Ky to Las Vegas because of my husbands job transfer.  We drove across the country and our 4 year old female boxer rode in the car and stayed in various hotels with us along the way.  Once arriving to Las Vegas, we stayed in a hotel a few days before moving into our new home.  Since moving here, she has become aggressive towards other dogs on and off leash while at the park.  While in Ky, we would go to the park and she would typically be fine.  She was sometimes aggressive if other dogs came into our yard.  Why is she acting this way?  I am thinking that she does not need to go to the dog park anymore as I look like an irresponsible owner.  

Answer
Her aggression is because of the move.

When a family pet is moved and uprooted from his or her home, they become insecure and have to re-establish their territory and make a new life that is unknown to them.

She is insecure and in a world that she has never known.

Don't take her to any dog park for awhile-- let her get accustomed to her new surroundings and to make it her home first.

I hope you have a fenced in back yard so she can run freely in it and get used to it, making it her territory. Plus, get her exercise.

If not, then you will have to walk her on a leash out to pee and poop allowing her to become accustomed to her environment for awhile.

After she has settled, you might then try a dog park- on a leash only for awhile.

She is like a little child that has been moved to a new house and is unfamiliar and does not understand.